FDA spokeswoman
Karen Riley was surprised by the news and said that the company has
not yet received approval for the devices and must first get
approved. Approval would involve a lengthy and expensive
process of submitting evidence of the device's efficacy and could
shelve the retail plans for years. However, if the company does
not comply, Riley warns that the FDA may order the devices pulled
from Walgreens' store shelves.

Gene testing has to date
exclusively been conducted in the medical setting. The new
Walgreen test, though, allows buyers to take a saliva sample and then
send it back to the lab for analysis. The company say that the
results can help people make informed medical decisions.

The
kits are set to go on sale at 6,000 of Walgreens' 7,500 stores.
Individual gene tests will retail between $19.99 and $30. Combo
tests are also available such as the drug-response test for $79, the
"pre-pregnancy planning" test for $179, and the health
condition test for $179. All three of the combo tests are
available for $249.

FDA's Riley warns, "The claims have
limitations based on existing science, and consumers should not be
making important medical and lifestyle decisions based on these tests
without first consulting a health-care professional."

Jim
Plante, CEO of Pathway Genomics refutes that his company has done
anything wrong, stating, "There are people who need or want to
know more about their genetic makeup, and we recognize that, for
some, genetic reports are becoming a more important component in
managing their personal health care. The value of knowing how
genes play a role in our personal lives, and potentially the lives of
our children, is critical for making well-informed health and
wellness decisions."

Ed MacBean, vice president of
product development for the company says that his firm will "be
happy to share with the FDA any data that is requested", but
that, "We’re still going to sell the kits at Walgreens because
at this point, we're not aware of any reason we are unable to."

The
FDA according to a
report in The
Sun Times may
also be considering action against online retailers of the test
kits. While Walgreens is the first brick-and-mortar retailer to
offer the kits, they've been available previously online.

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No it's not stupid, it's real life. Upton Sinclair was a Socialist. Socialist tend to wear out of focused rose colored glasses.

Using some quotes from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upton_SinclairQuote Wiki: "In his book The Jungle, Sinclair wrote about the inhumane conditions wage earners experience because of unregulated capitalism. Ironically, he began writing this novel on Christmas. His purpose was to expose the truth behind the unregulated industry of the day, including the poor treatment of immigrant workers, the poverty they lived in, the unsafe working conditions, and their job insecurity, besides their low wages. Sinclair wrote that, in capitalism, the wealthy are in control, and something needs to be done about it. He was the founder of the End Poverty in California (EPIC) movement.[11]"

He is wrong, in capitalism the creative and smart are in control.. (it's why a teenage single mother's child could grow up to be a billionaire... Do not believe go ask Oprah Winfrey). Yes, having money does not hurt, and it is good to have something over seeing areas like safety and give a voice to the little man. However, if he were alive today and I was able to talk to him. I would first tell him to look into a mirror and remind him that he was a poor man's son, yet he was very wealthy... If he was correct he should be poor because he was not born wealthy with his parent in control, because the "wealthy are in control in capitalism." However, his Dad was poor and his grandparent well off... So he saw the difference between the two life styles and he at one point in his life said, I'm not going to live the life of a poor man. Being he lived in a capitalistic society he could make something of himself without the aid of a rich person controlling his life and events around him.

quote Wiki:"His father was a liquor salesman whose alcoholism shadowed his son's childhood. Sinclair had wealthy grandparents with whom he often stayed. This gave him insight into how both the rich and the poor lived during the late nineteenth century."

So to that I say, maybe we need to wake some people up in this country... The government has or is giving too much protection for our own good. We need more people deciding for themselves that: "I'm not going to be poor, I'm not going to believe everything I'm told, I'm not going to be told how to live my life, I'm not going to be a servant to my government but they to me, and so on." Right now we have too many followers and no leaders. Maybe what makes for good leaders is people being burned or harmed from time to time.